CU-Boulder to shut down campus on 4/20 for second year in effort to kill smoke-out

By Brittany Anas, Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
03/11/2013 09:57:00 AM MDT

Updated:
03/11/2013 09:05:40 PM MDT

An unidentified man exhales after smoking a marijuana cigarette outside the Duane Physics building during a scaled-back 4/20 rally on the University of Colorado campus on Friday, April 20, 2012.
(Jeremy Papasso)

For the second year in a row, University of Colorado leaders will shut down the Boulder campus to outside visitors on 4/20 to combat the annual marijuana smoke-out.

In response, Rob Corry -- a Denver attorney who has been a prominent voice for marijuana legalization and the rights of medical marijuana patients -- said he and his clients will consider applying for a special visitors' permit with the hopes of holding a rally on Norlin Quad on April 20, which falls on a Saturday this year.

"The administration's argument about class disruption and so forth is far less effective," Corry said. "I'm not aware of any classes going on on a Saturday."

The so-called pot-smokers' holiday in past years has drawn more than 11,000 people to Norlin Quad. Last year, though, CU took the unprecedented steps of closing the university grounds to visitors and requiring students to carry their IDs to get on the campus. A smaller group of revelers -- numbering a few hundred -- smoked pot and protested on a smaller campus field.

"We are committed to ending the unwelcome 4/20 gathering on the CU-Boulder campus, and this year's approach represents the continuance of a multi-year plan to achieve that end," CU Chancellor Phil DiStefano said in a statement.

DiStefano said the campus wants to protect CU's mission of research, teaching and service.

"This isn't about marijuana or drug laws," he said. "It's about not disrupting the important work of a world-class university."

The campus will re-open at 6 p.m. April 20. CU officials said that unlike last year, they will not be applying a fishy-smelling fertilizer on Norlin Quad.

Norlin Quad, however, will remain shut down this year, according to university officials.

Eventually, CU would like the 4/20 event to end altogether, officials say.

Public safety is the CU Police Department's top priority on April 20, said Ryan Huff, spokesman for the department. Officers, though, will be enforcing all laws -- including trespassing and the public consumption of marijuana, he said.

Last year, three people were arrested on Norlin Quad for trespassing, 11 were ticketed for trespassing and one person was ticketed for possession of marijuana.

Last year, a Boulder judge upheld the university's right close the campus to avoid disruption of the university's mission after Corry -- representing six plaintiffs -- brought an emergency request to block the closure.

CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said the court case last year signaled that the university can take the measures it needs to -- on a limited basis -- to protect its academic mission.

"We cannot have this kind of unscheduled, unorganized mob event on the campus and still conduct teaching and research," Hilliard said.

This year, Corry said that if he and his clients can't reach a middle ground with CU, it's possible he'll once again take the school to court.

"I'd prefer to work it out without going to court," he said. "This is about First Amendment rights being respected. If you can't have free expression on a college campus, where can you have it? This is why we have great universities -- to discuss pressing issues of the day. And, in 2013, in Colorado, there is no more pressing issue of historical significance than marijuana and its legalization in the wake of Amendment 64."

Again this year, students and employees will be asked to present their Buff OneCard IDs at campus entrances. Those who aren't affiliated with CU and don't have a guest pass could be ticketed for trespassing, which could mean punishment of up to six months in jail and a $750 fine.

Also, the Colorado State Patrol will have extra patrols on the highways near Boulder, looking for drivers who may be stoned or drunk.

Britni Hernandez, a CU Student Government executive, said her administration has solicited opinions of students through a task force and a survey. While the majority of students want the massive 4/20 celebration on the campus to end, she said, many students don't want their fee money being used in the efforts. In response, the student government this year will not fund a concert on 4/20.

Last year, CU's administration and student government spent more than $278,000 in their efforts to curtail the marijuana smoke-out.

The administration spent $124,561, and the CU Student Government, which staged a concert featuring Wyclef Jean, spent $154,236. The concert was poorly attended, drawing only a few hundred students.

Hernandez said the student government also asked CU officials to change their policy requiring student IDs. She said students expressed civil liberty concerns over the policy.

CU police this year will hand out fliers that explain why they are shutting down the campus and how people can lodge complaints if they think they were treated unfairly.

While the student government agrees with the administration that a 4/20 gathering has no place on the campus, Hernandez said it's the hope of student leaders that in the future the school remains open to the public on 4/20 and the university removes ID requirements.

Judd Golden, chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union's local chapter, said the group has expressed its concern over the campus closure, arguing that the government should readily accommodate large gatherings of people who are exercising their First Amendment rights. In general, he said, it's a bad policy to pre-emptively close the campus and subject people to criminal sanctions should they enter onto the public campus.

Visitors who have official business, meetings or other officially sanctioned events on the CU campus need to get a visitor's pass by 10 p.m. April 14. To apply, visit colorado.edu/april20/campusaccess.